Freight containers adapted to be stacked



April 16, 1963 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,085,707

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FREIGHT CONTAINERS ADAPTED TO BE STACKED Original Filed April 8, 1958 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 16, 1963 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,085,707

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ATTORNEY April 1963 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,085,707

FREIGHT CONTAINERS ADAPTED TO BE STACKED Original Filed April 8, 1958 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 INVENTOR ATTORNEY A ril 16, 1963 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,085,707

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FREIGHT CONTAINERS ADAPTED TO BE STACKED Original Filed April 8, 1958 18 Sheets-Sheet l7 I N V E NTOR ATTORNEY April 16, 1963 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,085,707

FREIGHT CONTAINERS ADAPTED TO BE STACKED Original Filed April 8, 1958 18 Sheets-Sheet 18 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,085,707 FREIGHT CONTAINERS ADAP'IED TO BE STACKED Keith W. Tantlinger, Mobile, Ala., asslgnor to Sea-Land Service Inc, a corporation of Delaware Griginal application Apr. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 727,165, now Patent No. 3,027,025, dated Mar. 27, 1962. Divided and this application Ian. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 168,867

7 Claims. (Cl. 220--1.5)

This application is a division of application Serial No. 727,165, filed April 8, 1958, issued as Patent No. 3,027,- 025 on March 27, 1962.

This invention relates generally to the handling of freight in transit and provides certain instrumentalities, elements and combinations useful in practicing the invention disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 682,512, filed September 9, 1957.

In the copending application referred to there are disclosed cooperative structures combining to constitute a novel system of handling freight in successive overland and marine transportation, particularly with reference to the lifting from the frames or chassis of highway truck trailers the removable bodies thereof utilized for the packing of articles of freight and the transferring of such trailer bodies to a ship for transportation by water to a port of destination. The system is reversible at the destination of the ship, the invention being there operative for the unloading of the trailer bodies from the ship.

The present invention contemplates the use of novel means for facilitating the employment of trailer bodies as freight boxes or containers by providing means whereby a trailer body may be secured to a trailer chassis for the overland transporting of the freight, and wherein the means for securing the trailer body in position on the chassis is readily releasable whereby the body is free to be hoisted and stowed aboard ship.

Principal objects of the invention are concerned with facilitating the lowering of the trailer bodies into position on the the trailer chassis, including means for guiding the body to a proper seating position to be latched on the chassis; to provide effective means for connecting the body to lifting crane means to be hoisted from the chassis, and to provide means related to the particular lifting means employed for facilitating the stacking of the trailer bodies or boxes iaboard ship in superposed relation in the hold or in superposed interlocked relation on the deck or hatch cover for safe marine transport.

Other objects are concerned with providing trailer bodies constituting freight containers which are capable of being stacked in superposed relation directly upon each other in considerable number so as to fill the hold, from bottom to hatch, or" a large seagoing vessel, and to this end the bodies are made in accurately right parallelepipedal form, of rectangular outline at all vertical and cross sectional planes, with no external protuberances, so as to fit in sliding relation in vertical cells formed in the hold by four spaced upright corner angles, and are provided with flat roofs and floors, and with strong structural corner posts which project beyond the roofs and floors so as to bear all the load of a superposed similar body.

A related object is to provide bodies of the foregoing type having special corner post construction involving no obstruction projecting into the interior, so that the interior surfaces of the side and end Walls meet in right angular vertexes, thus enhancing the load carrying capacity of the containers.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, which depict in structural form certain preferred embodiments of the various cooperating features used in the practice of the invention.

3,085,707 Patented Apr. 16, 1963 FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view illustrating a portion of a side of a ships hull with a gantry and bridge construction thereon shown connected to and supporting a vehicle body or box in position above 'a trailer chassis adapted to support the box in transit;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing in more detail and on an enlarged scale the trailer chassis and box in the relative positions shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar view showing the box in position on the trailer chassis;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the same;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the box or body and trailer chassis shown separated;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 88 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line 99 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a similar view on the line 1010 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the interlocking portions of a box and trailer chassis;

FIG. 12 is :an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line 1212 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged side elevational view of a body or box, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the same;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view of one corner portion of the interlocking elements of a lifting crane beam and the body or box parts being shown in section and the interlocking elements being shown separated;

FIG. 16 is a similar view showing the parts interlocked;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the superposed end portions of two boxes supported on a ships hatch cover or the like;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of one end portion of a hatch cover or the like, showing the means associated therewith for interlocking a box thereto;

FIG. 19 is a plan viewof the same;

FIG. 19a is a plan view of a keeper for one of the stacking lug operating handles FIG. 20 is an enlarged side elevational view of the means for interlocking superposed corner portions of two boxes;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view on the line 21-21 of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a modified type of interlocking lug and vehicle body or box, with the parts in unlocked relation;

FIG. 23 is a sectional view on the line 23-23 of FIG. 22 showing the parts interlocked in operative position;

FIG. 24 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 22 showin a further modified type of interlocking means;

FIG. 25 is a sectional view on the line 25-25 of FIG. 24 showing the parts interlocked;

FIG. 26 is an underside perspective view of a modified type of trailer body or box having a refrigerating unit associated therewith;

FIG. 27 is a plan view of the front end portion of the same.

FIG. 28 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal cross sectional view through one of the front corner portions of the box, showing one of the front corner posts;

FIG. 29 is a similar view through one of the rear corner portions of the box, showing one of the rear corner posts;

FIG. 30 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross sectional view through the roof and one of the rear doors of the box showing one of the recessed road lights; and

FIG. 31 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross sectional view through the intersecting portions of the roof and side wall, showing the top rail in cross section and the upper portion of a corner post in elevation.

Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates the side of a ship docked adjacent a pier, having a roadway surface which is indicated by the numeral 11. On the ships deck are supported the rails of a trackway 12 on which is mounted a gantry 13 for movement longitudinally of the ship and supporting thereabove a bridge 14 movable transversely of the ship on rails 15 supported by the gantry. The bridge carries a suitable power source 16 connected through appropriate transmission means to pulleys 17 around which are rooved cable 18 extending at their lower runs around pulleys 19 carried by a lift frame 20 which may be provided with a control cab 21. The elements so far described form no part per se of the presently claimed invention, except as referred to below.

The present invention is particularly adapted, among other things, to facilitate the transfer of shipping boxes, shown in the present instance as roadway vehicle trailer bodies, from a trailer chassis to such portions of a marine vessel as may be desired, and reversing such procedure at the port of destination of the ship. The box or trailer body, referred to hereinafter as the box, is shown in various figures of the drawings, for example, FIGS. l-6, inclusive, 8, 9, 10 and 13-17, inclusive. Such box is indicated as a whole by the numeral 25 and cmprises upper and lower longitudinal frame members 26 at opposite sides of the box and transverse frame members 27 at opposite ends of the box. At each of the four front corners of the box is arranged a heavy box-like steel casting 28, and at each of the four rear corners a generally similar heavy box-like steel casting 29 is provided. Each corner of the box is provided with a corner post connected between associated pairs of upper and lower castings 28 or 29. The two front corner posts, which are of identical construction, but are relatively reversely positioned in the structure, are designated 35, and the two rear corner posts, which are alike, though different in detail from the front corner posts, are relatively reversely positioned and are designated 36. These two kinds of corner posts, which are the full load-bearing members of the boxes, will be described in detail hereinafter. The castings 28 and 29 are welded to the upper and lower end surfaces of the respective corner posts 35 and 36, and are riveted to the fore and aft frame members at the top and bottom of the side panels, as is perhaps best shown in FIG. 30 for one of the top castings 29, and in FIG. 13 for one of the top castings 28.

The sides of the box are closed by side walls 30. The front end is closed by a wall 31 and the top by a roof sheet 45 (FIG. 8), and the rear end is normally closed by doors 32 hinged as at 33 to the adjacent corner posts 36. It will be noted, by comparing FIG. 29 with FIG. 3, for example, that the surfaces of the doors 32 are inset from the surfaces of the hinges 33, and the hinges are protected by covering flanges 180 formed on the rear corner posts (hereinafter to be explained more in detail), so as to eliminate any overhanging surfaces at the associated end of the body. It will further be noted in FIGS. 3 and 30 that the corner castings 29 are provided with overhangs 34, the outer surfaces of which extend outwardly beyond the plane of the surfaces of the doors 32 and hinges 33, to be flush with the flanges 180, as will also hereinafter be described in more detail.

As best shown in FIG. 13, each upper casting 28, 29 is provided with a top wall 38, and each bottom casting 28, 29 is provided with a similar bottom wall 39. Each of the walls 38 and 39 is provided with a keyhole slot 40, being circularly enlarged centrally as at 41 and having oppositely longitudinally extending straight end extensions 42 of reduced width.

The box is provided with a roof sheet (FIGS. 8 and 14) riveted at its edges to the top frame members 26 and 27 and supported by relatively light spaced cross members 49 whose ends are fitted into the side frame members 26 (FIGS. 8 and 31). The box is provided with a floor, indicated as a whole by the numeral 46, supported by a plurality of transverse spaced structural members 47, preferably in the form of I-beams. Next to the forwardmost beam 47, a transverse structural member 48 (FIGS. 6), preferably in the form of a box beam, extends from side to side of the box for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

Longitudinally extending spaced structural members 50 (FIGS. 8 and 26) are welded at their rear ends to the box beam 48 as at 51 (FIG. 6) and from each of the structural members 50 extends a plurality of transverse structural members 52 (FIG. 26). All of the structural members 47, 48, 51 and 52 have their lower extremities arranged in a common plane. The structural members 48 and 50 centrally of the width of the vehicle form a well 53, the purpose of which is described below. The well 53 is open at its forward end as shown in FIGS. 6 and 26.

A trailer chassis on which a box is adapted to be conveyed to the dock side or other place where the box is to be transferred to a ship is indicated as a whole by the numeral 60. This trailer chassis comprises spaced longitudinal side frame members 61 suitably conventionally connected to each other and supported at their rear ends on a dual axle supporting wheel unit 62. When not coupled with a tractor, the forward end of the trailer is adapted to be supported on the roadway by the usual auxiliary legs 63 which serve as pedestals for small wheels or rollers on which the trailer is capable of rolling back slightly when a tractor is backed under it. The forward end portions of the side frame member 61 are offset upwardly as at 64 for a purpose hereinafter to be explained.

In addition to conventional connecting means between the side frame members 61, a pair of closed section beams 66 and 67 extend across and are welded to the tops of the side frame members. These cross members 66 and 67 extend substantially beyond the frame members 61 and are of a length approximately equal to the width of the box 25. The forward cross member 66 may be of box section as shown in FIG. 6, while the other cross member 67 is shaped in cross section as shown in FIG. 12, being of closed section with a downwardly and forwardly sloping front wall 68 for a purpose which will be described hereinafter. One of the cross members beneath the box 25, arranged between an adjacent pair of the I-beams 47, is of the type shown in FIG. 12 and indicated by the numeral 69. This cross member comprises a channel 70 set on edge and braced by a transverse vertical plate 71. It will be apparent that when a box 25 is being lowered into position on the chassis, the lower, advancing edge of the cross member 70 may be guided downwardly and forwardly by the sloping wall 68 of the chassis cross member 67 if such action is required by misalignment of the parts.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the ends of the cross member 67 are provided with downwardly and outwardly sloping cam surfaces or walls 72 which are engageable by plates 73 welded or otherwise secured to the adjacent frame members 26 of the box 25, thus assisting in guiding the box laterally of the trailer in the downward movement of the box.

As previously stated, the forward end portions of tthe chassis side frame members 61 are offset upwardly at 64. These portions of the chassis frame are received in the box well 53 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. The longitudinally extending frame members 50 of the box 25 (FIG. 8) slope downwardly and outwardly transversely 

1. FREIGHT HANDLING APPARATUS COMPRISING A PAIR OF BOXES ADAPTED TO BE SUPERIMPOSED ONE ABOVE THE OTHER, THE LOWER BOX BEING PROVIDED WITH A TOP HAVING A PLURALITY OF SOCKETS EACH PROVIDED WITH A TOP WALL HAVING A NON-CIRCULAR OPENING THERETHROUGH, THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE UPPER BOX BEING PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF SOCKETS HAVING BOTTOM WALLS WITH NON-CIRCULAR OPENINGS THERETHROUGH CORRESPONDING IN POSITION TO THE RESPECTIVE OPENINGS IN THE SOCKETS OF SAID LOWER BOX, AND A PLURALITY OF LUG DEVICES CORRESPONDING IN NUMBER TO SAID OPENINGS IN THE TOP WALL OF SAID LOWER BOX AND IN THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID UPPER BOX, EACH LUG DEVICE COMPRISING A MEMBER HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS PROVIDED WITH LUG HEADS RIGIDLY AND NON-ROTATABLY CONNECTED THERETO, THE ADJACENT ENDS OF THE LUG HEADS OF EACH LUG DEVICE CORRESPONDING IN SHAPE TO SAID OPENINGS FOR INSERTION THERETHROUGH, THE LUG HEADS OF EACH LUG DEVICE BEING TAPERED TOWARD THEIR REMOTE ENDS TO DECREASE IN SIZE TO FACILITATE INSERTION OF THE LUG HEADS INTO THE RESPECTIVE ADJACENT OPENINGS IN THE BOXES. 